Sure, but then you're still at the mercy of the browser. The API change is totally unnecessary, yet is happening despite many protests. The concern is that it

Sure, but then you're still at the mercy of the browser. The API change is totally unnecessary, yet is happening despite many protests. The concern is that it was performance and privacy issue, which looks like a total BS (even according to the link we are discussing). The extensions are installed by the user, so what not let them decide what to do with their browser? If it's really a concern, I don't think anyone would oppose if google would educate user what API given extension is using.